BAItflMORE  AGRICULTURAL 
AID  SOCIETY 

Report. 


r 


REPORT  OF  THE  SECRETARY 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


Agricultural  Aid  Society. 


PRINTED  BY  JOHN  MUBPHY&  Co. 

PUBLISHERS,  BOOKSELLEES,   PBIKIE8S  AKD   SlATIO'EBS, 

182  Baltimore   Street. 

1865. 


HEWAXX.  NJ.  •  wiuuuismr,  PA. 

IDS  ANCEUS,  OUf. 
BMNTFORO.  ONT. 


Yri.«°n!.!   823U 
'ffmrs  far  1865. 


President, 

JAMES   HOOPER,  JR. 

Vice-President, 

CHAS.  J.  BAKER. 

Treasurer, 

DANIEL  MILLER. 

Cor.  Secretary, 

LAWRENCE  SANGSTON. 

Directors : 

JAMES  CAREY,  WILLIAM  DEVRIES, 

WM.  H.  BALDWIN,  GERMON  H.  HUNT, 

WILLIAM  CHESNUT,  B.  F.  CATOR, 

G.  WASHINGTON  WARD,  CHAS.  M.  DOUGHERTY, 

CHARLES  WEBB,  ISRAEL  M.  PARR, 

MYER  STEIN,  WM.  CRICHTON. 
SAM.  H.  MILES. 

Executive  Committee: 

JAMES  HOOPER,  JR. 
CHARLES  J.  BAKER, 
CHARLES  WEBB, 
JAMES  CAREY, 
B.  F.  CATOR. 


UCSB  URPARY 


BALTIMORE,  December  23,  1865. 
To  the  Directors  of  the  Agricultural  Society. 

GENTLEMEN:  v 

The  period  having  arrived  when  I  can 
make  a  full  report  of  the  operations  of  the  Society  and  the 
execution  of  the  trust  confided  in  me,  I  have  the  honor  to 
lay  before  you  the  accounts  herewith  annexed,  the  books 
and  vouchers  for  which  are  at  your  command. 

As  very  few,  comparatively,  of  the  subscribers,  have  any 
knowledge  of  the  operations  of  the  Society,  or  what  has 
been  effected  by  it,  I  propose,  for  their  information,  to  give 
a  short  history  of  its  origin,  its  object,  its  mode  of  applica- 
tion, and  what  it  has  accomplished. 

Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  civil  war,  which  devastated 
so  large  a  portion  of  the  Southern  States,  and  more  particu- 
larly the  neighboring  State  of  Virginia — leaving  thousands 
of  people  in  a  state  of  utter  destitution,  without  the  means 
of  cultivating  their  land  or  of  procuring  the  necessary  im- 
plements and  seed  to  enable  them  to  avoid  starvation  or  the 
abandonment  of  their  homes — a  few  gentlemen  of  this  city, 
differing  in  their  political  views,  but  fully  agreeing  in  the 
necessity  of  prompt  action  to  afford  relief  to  those  suffering- 
people,  conceived  the  idea  of  an  organized  effort  to  supply 
them  with  stock,  agricultural  implements  and  seed  to  enable 
them  to  resume  their  farming  operations  and  provide  bread 
for  their  families.  It  was  not  proposed  to  place  them  in  the 
attitude  of  paupers  receiving  charity,  but  to  furnish  them, 
at  cost,  with  such  articles  as  they  required,  and  take  a  bond 
for  repayment  out  of  the  next  crop,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as 
possible. 


The  motives  that  actuated  those  gentlemen  were  as  vari- 
ous as  they  were  creditable — chiefly  common  humanity  to- 
wards those  in  distress,  and  the  desire  to  efface  the  unkind 
feelings  naturally  arising  from  the  war,  and  restore  that 
harmony  which  had  previously  existed,  and  without  which 
the  Union  is  worthless.  Looking,  too,  to  the  fact  that  Vir- 
ginia, (to  which  State  it  was  proposed  to  confine  operations 
for  the  time  being,)  had  heretofore  found  its  principal  mar- 
ket, both  for  purchases  and  sales,  in  this  city,  adding  largely 
to  its  business  and  its  wealth,  there  was  felt,  in  addition,  a 
laudable  desire — while  affording  that  assistance  which  the 
remembrance  of  past  benefits  made  a  duty,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  future — to  build  up  and  restore  that  commercial 
intercourse,  valuable  to  them,  as  to  us,  which  had  been  sus- 
pended by  the  existence  of  the  war,  and  destroyed  by  the 
mode  of  conducting  it. 

That  an  effort,  at  such  a  time,  to  accomplish  such  objects, 
should  have  met  with  opposition  from  any  human  being  in 
a  civilized  country,  might  well  excite  astonishment,  but  un- 
fortunately such  beings  exist  and  are  not  without  their  in- 
fluence. Immediately  on  the  announcement  of  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Society  and  the  objects  it  hoped  to  accomplish, 
it  was  made  the  subject  of  a  series  of  attacks  from  the  lead- 
ing partisan  editor  of  the  city.  Its  intentions  were  misrep- 
resented, its  motive  were  traduced,  its  objects  were  grossly 
falsified,  and  all  who  participated  in  it  were  denounced  as 
traitors. 

The  power  of  this  man,  who,  for  four  years,  with  impunity, 
success,  and  profit,  had  bullied  and  brow-beaten  the  people 
of  Baltimore  at  his  pleasure,  had  not  then,  as  it  now  has, 
passed  away,  neither  had  the  timidity  arising  from  the  style 
of  discipline  to  which  the  public  had  been  subjected  during 
the  same  period.  The  very  natural  result  was,  that  all  that 


class  of  prudent  people  who  lacked  confidence  in  their  own 
loyalty,  and  were  afraid  to  do  or  say  anything  that  might 
cause  it  to  be  suspected  or  doubted,  as  well  as  the  very 
large  class  who  here,  as  in  all  communities,  are  happy  at 
being  furnished  with  an  excuse  for  not  doing  what  other- 
wise a  sense  of  duty  might  have  compelled  them  do,  utterly 
refused  to  have  any  connection  with  it. 

While  this  opposition  necessarily  contracted  the  sphere 
of  usefulness  of  the  Society,  by  limiting  its  means,  it  crea- 
ted much  embarrassment  in  other  respects.  At  the  period 
referred  to,  the  paper  in  question,  the  '•'•Baltimore  American? 
was  the  only  one  which  the  people  of  Virginia  had  access 
to,  being  the  only  paper  of  this  city  which  was  permitted 
to  pass  through  the  military  mails,  or  to  be  sold  where  the 
military  authority  prevailed.  The  result  was,  that  a  large 
number  of  the  people  of  that  State,  having  no  other  means 
of  information,  and  not  being  aware  of  the  reputation  of 
the  paper  as  to  veracity,  and  the  necessity  of  applying  to 
its  statements  and  assertions  the  same  rule  universally  laid 
down  for  the  interpretation  of  dreams,  were  misled  by  its 
false  representations — some  supposing  the  Society  to  be  a 
speculative  operation,  having  some  improper  object  in 
view — others  believing  it  was  a  "Loan  Bank?  as  the 
American  asserted,  intended  to  give  "  large  salaries  to  its 
officers  and  large  dividends  to  its  stockliolders"  The  former 
idea  prevented  many  deserving  parties  from  making  appli- 
cation for  assistance,  from  the  fear  that  in  some  shape  or 
form  they  were  to  be  swindled ;  the  latter  caused  the  secre- 
tary to  be  overwhelmed  with  applications  for  loans  and 
mortgages  sufficient  to  have  absorbed  the  banking  capital 
of  the  city.  Nor  were  these  the  only  difficulties  arising 
from  the  same  cause.  Much  of  the  transportation  was  un- 
der the  control  of  the  military  authorities,  who  were  not 


disposed  to  regard  with  favor  what  had  been  denounced  by 
the  leading  "loyal"  editor  of  the  city  as  an  act  of  dis- 
loyalty. The  result  was,  much  petty  annoyance,  some  loss 
from  breakage  of  machinery,  and  excessive  charges  for 
transportation.  Nevertheless,  the  Directors  of  the  Society 
determined,  to  the  extent  of  their  ability,  to  carry  out  the 
object  for  which  they  were  associated,  and  to  the  extent  of 
their  means  have  successfully  accomplished  that  object. 

The  plan  of  operations  adopted  by  the  Directors  was  to 
select,  in  each  of  the  counties  in  which  they  proposed  to 
operate,  two  or  three  gentlemen,  of  the  highest  respecta- 
bility and  position,  to  act  as  local  agents,  who  understood 
the  wants  of  their  immediate  neighborhoods,  and  would  re- 
ceive, endorse  and  forward  the  applications,  receive  and  dis- 
tribute the  articles  sent,  and  collect  and  remit  to  the  Secre- 
tary bonds  for  repayment. 

The  plan  was  found  to  work  well.  Most  of  the  gentle- 
men applied  to  at  once  responded  and  entered  upon  their 
duties — in  many  cases  at  the  expense  of  much  time  and 
labor,  but  in  all  cases  with  great  pleasure  to  themselves, 
and  without  charge  to  the  Society. 

How  far  the  object  of  the  Society  has  been  attained,  and 
the  spirit  in  which  it  has  been  met,  will  be  best  understood 
by  a  perusal  of  a  few  extracts  from  the  letters  of  those 
agents,  appended  to  this  report,  all  of  whom  write  to  the 
same  effect. 

Referring  to  my  report  of  August  28th,  the  amount  then 
subscribed,  about  $50,000,  was  nearly  exhausted,  with  seve- 
ral hundred  applications  from  Eastern  Virginia  for  seed 
wheat  remaining  unanswered.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  held  that  day,  it  was  determined  to  make  an 
effort  to  procure  $50,000  additional  subscription  to  meet 
this  pressing  necessity,  there  being  in  the  Tidewater  counties 


of  Virginia  little  or  no  wheat  fit  for  seed,  and  the  mass  of 
the  people  without  the  means  of  procuring  it.  The  effort 
was  not  successful,  but  $10,000  being  raised,  and  the  season 
for  planting  too  far  advanced  to  admit  of  further  delay;  in 
this  emergency,  a  number  of  gentlemen  connected  with  the 
Society  as  directors  or  subscribers  nobly  came  to  its  assist- 
ance, and  proffered  the  use  of  their  names  and  credit. 
Charles  J.  Baker,  Esq.,  advanced  his  note  at  12  months  for 
$5,000,  and  Messrs.  Miles  &  Marshall  their  note  for  $2,500, 
which  were  discounted  by  the  Franklin  Bank;  Messrs. 
Charles  Webb,  Lewis  Turner,  Sr.,  Jacob  J.  Bankard  and 
Hugh  Sisson  advanced  their  joint  note  for  $5,000,  which 
was  discounted  by  the  Bank  of  Commerce;  Israel  M.  Parr, 
Esq.,  his  note  for  $2,500,  and  Messrs.  Wm.  Crichton  and 
George  W.  Ward,  each  their  note  for  $1,000,  which  were 
discounted  by  the  Farmers  and  Merchants'  Bank ;  and  Ben. 
F.  Cator,  Esq.,  $750  in  cash. 

This  timely  aid  enabled  me  to  distribute  seed  wheat  to 
those  counties  to  the  extent  of  $30,000,  reducing  the  quan- 
tities applied  for  about  half  in  each  case.  Messrs.  Israel 
M.  Parr  and  Samuel  Gr.  Miles  kindly  undertaking  the  pur- 
chase of  the  wheat  and  its  preparation  for  shipment,  with- 
out any  charge  or  commission. 

The  creation  of  this  debt  is  necessarily  a  preferred  claim 
on  the  assets  of  the  Society,  and  to  that  extent  will  delay 
the  return  of  the  subscriptions,  but  does  not  impair  my 
confidence  in  the  opinion  heretofore  expressed,  that  the 
subscribers  might  rely  on  ultimately  receiving  eighty  per 
cent,  of  their  subscriptions. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  June  last,  J.  S.  Thayer, 
Esq.,  of  New  York,  sent  to  the  Society,  two  valuable  Reap- 
ing and  two  Mowing  Machines,  to  be  appropriated  to  the 
Shenandoah  Valley.  As  it  was  not  the  purpose  of  the  Society 


10 


to  make  donations,  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Thayer,  asking  permis- 
sion to  receive  and  treat  them  as  any  other  subscription. 
Not  receiving  any  reply,  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  deviate 
from  his  instructions  without  permission,  and  disposed  of 
them  in  such  localities  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  as  from 
personal  enquiry  I  supposed  they  would  be  of  the  most 
service. 

The  total  amount  of  subscriptions  and  loans,  is  $77,120, 
which  was  distributed  to  915  persons  residing  in  30  coun- 
ties, for  which  711  bonds  amounting  to  $57,330  87,  have 
been  received  and  deposited  in  Bank,  subject  to  the  control 
of  the  Executive  Committe,  and  204  bonds  amounting  to 
$19,218  37,  are  yet  to  be  forwarded  by  the  County  Agents, 
it  will  probably  be  two  or  three  months  before  they  are  all 
received  owing  to  the  absence  of  mail  facilities  in  most  of 
the  counties  and  the  necessity  of  awaiting  private  opportu- 
nities of  transmission. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  total  amount  of  bonds  is 
slightly  in  excess  of  the  disbursements — which  requires 
some  explanation. 

I  endeavored,  in  compliance  with  the  views  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee,  to  add  to  the  invoices,  when  charges 
or  expenses  were  incurred,  such  amount  as  would  barely 
cover  those  expenses,  as  it  was  desired  to  avoid  the  appear- 
ance of  any  charge  beyond  the  exact  expenditure,  unfor- 
seen  expenses  arising  from  difficulties  of  transportation, 
breakage  of  machinery,  sometimes  from  accident,  sometimes 
from  malice,  petty  thefts  of  bags  of  wheat  and  small  packa- 
ges while  in  transitu,  and  the  loss  of  eight  horses  from  dis- 
ease, would  have  involved  the  Society  in  a  loss  of  about 
one  thousand  dollars. 

This  deficiency  has  been  made  up,  and  slightly  added  to 
by  contributions  from  various  gentlemen,  Messrs.  Poole  & 


11 


Hunt,  Geo.  Page  &  Co.,  John  Murphy  &  Co.,  John  D.  Ham- 
mond, Messrs.  Bickford  &  Huffman,  of  Macedon,  N.  Y.,  and 
others. 

The  adoption  of  Winchester  as  a  distributive  point  for 
the  Valley  of  Virginia  necessarily  caused  a  vast  amount  of 
labor  at  that  point,  the  more  so,  that  the  railway  transpor- 
tation terminated  at  the  military  camp,  five  miles  from  the 
town  where  storage  or  protection  from  the  weather  was 
impossible.  Without  the  untiring  assistance  of  the  Agent 
in  Winchester,  James  H.  Burgess,  Esq ,  it  would  have  been 
almost  impossible  to  have  carried  out  the  necessary  detail. 
G.O.  Meigs,  Esq.,  then  Agent  of  the  Read  Express  Co.,  also 
giving  much  time  and  labor  in  assisting  Mr.  Burgess. 

To  all  the  various  lines  of  transportation  used  by  the 
Society,  I  am  indebted  for  facilities,  none  of  them  exacted 
the  usual  tariff  for  freight.  The  Norfolk  Line  of  Steamers, 
under  direction  of  Moore  N.  Falls,  Esq.,  made  no  charge; 
the  Eappahannock  Steamers,  under  the  direction  of  J.  J. 
Taylor,  Esq.,  for  the  first  two  months  carried  a  large 
amount  of  troublesome  freight  free  of  charge;  to  John  W. 
Garrett,  Esq ,  President  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail  Road 
I  am  specially  indebted  to  for  assistance  in  the  most  difficult 
part  of  my  labor  in  reaching  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  for  an 
abatement  of  one-half  the  established  rates  of  freight,  and 
free  transit  for  myself  and  employees,  and  general  instruc- 
tions to  the  agents  of  the  road  to  assist  me. 

To  Messrs.  Carey  &  Bangs  I  am  also  under  many  obli- 
gations for  the  gratuitous  use  of  their  office  for  the  business 
of  the  Society. 

In  reviewing  the  operations  of  the  Society,  from  personal 
observations  in  such  parts  of  the  country  as  I  have  visited, 
and  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  County  Agents,  I  feel 
entirely  justified  in  the  assertion,  that  it  will  add  half  a 


12 


million  of  dollars  next  year  to  the  agricultural  products  of 
Virginia — a  new  creation  of  wealth  from  labor  which  other- 
wise could  have  had  no  existence,  far  better  than  the  estab- 
lishment of  half  a  dozen  new  banks.  While  those  people 
accept  it  as  an  evidence  of  kind  feeling  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  Baltimore,  it  cannot  but  have  its  reflective  influ- 
ence on  the  future  trade  of  the  City.  For  myself,  I  cannot 
but  rejoice  that  I  did  not  know  the  vast  amount  of  dull  and 
tedious  labor  it  involved,  as  otherwise,  I  should  certainly 
have  been  deterred  from  doing  what  I  shall  always  regard 
as  the  best  act  of  my  life. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  and  ladies  too — for  the  names  of  both 
will  be  found  on  the  appended  subscription  list — if  the  re- 
mark of  the  philosopher  be  true  that  whoever  makes  two 
blades  of  grass  grow  where  but  one  grew  before,  is  a  benefac- 
tor of  the  human  race — the  many  thousands  of  acres  of  golden 
grain  that  will  ripen  under  the  summer  sun,  and  gracefully 
wave  to  the  summer  breeze,  will  bear  silent,  but  grateful 
testimony,  that  every  one  of  you  is  entitled  to  that  proud 
appellation.  The  many  hundreds  of  homes  made  more 
happy  through  your  agency,  will  not  cease  to  cherish  the 
most  cordial  remembrance  of  those  who  came  voluntarily 
to  their  assistance,  in  their  sorest  need,  without  wounding 
their  pride  or  insulting  their  poverty. 
Eespectfully  submitted, 

LAWEENCE  SANGSTON, 

Cor.  Sec'y. 


13 


AGRICULTURAL  AID  SOCIETY. 

In  Account  with  Lawrence  Sangston,  Secretary. 

DR.  x 

711  County  Bonds  on  hand $57,339  87 

204         "           "      in  hands  of  Agents  to  be  re- 
mitted     19,218  37 

Daniel  Miller,  Treasurer 805  59 

$77,363  83 


CB. 

Subscription  Account $59,370  00 

Loan  Account  : 

Charles  J.  Baker 5,000  00 

Charles  Webb,  Lewis  Turner,  J.  J.  Bankard, 

and  Hugh  Sisson 5,00000 

Israel  M.  Parr 2,500  00 

Miles  &  Marshall 2,500  00 

Wm.  Crichton  1,00000 

Geo.  W.  Ward 1,000  00 

Benj.  F.  Cator 750  00 

Expense  Account 243  83 

$77,363  83 


Disbursements : 

Cash  Loans  to  27  Persons  in  sums  of  $50  to  $400 $  4,350  00 

Horses 7,310  00 

Agricultural  Implements  and  Machinery 24,042  55 

Seed  Wheat 39,877  72 

Guano t 977  97 

$76,558  24 


PURCHASES. 

18,182  Bushels  Seed  "Wheat. 
6,081  Bags. 
98  Horses. 
2  Steam  Saw  Mills. 
7  Threshing  Machines. 
12  Wheat  Drills. 
7  Buggy  Horse  Rakes. 

2  Combined  Reaping  and  Mowing  Machines. 
6  Mowing  Machines. 
16  Hay  Cutters. 
6  Grindstones. 
2  Clover  Hullers. 
613  Plows. 
43  Harrows. 
87  Cultivators. 
914  ps.  Plow  Castings. 
46  setts  Wagon  Harness 
217     "     Plow 

2  Wheat  Fans, 

3  Corn  Shellers. 

1  pair  French  Burr  Millstones. 

4  Bolting  Cloths. 

3  Blacksmith  Shops. 

1  Cooking  Stove. 

16  Tons  Rhodes'  Phosphate. 

2  Domestic  Mills, 
53  ps  Cedar  Ware. 

728  ps.  Hardware,  Axes,  Hoes,  Shovels,  Spades,  &c. 
Clover  and  Garden  Seed,  $376  88. 


LETTERS  FROM  COUNTY  AGENTS. 


JAMES  H.  BURGESS,  ESQ.,  Winchester,  Va. 

"As  our  business  relations  are  now  drawing  to  a  close,  permit  me  to 
make  some  reference  to  the  operations  of  your  Society,  so  far  as  they  have 
come  under  my  observation  in  our  once  beautiful,  but  now  desolated  Valley. 

"When  your  association  was  initiated  in  our  Valley,  already  had  another 
society  engaged  in  the  laudable  work  of  bestowing  charity  in  various  ways, 
clothing,  food,  &c.,  being  the  usual  articles  of  distribution  ;  but  these, 
much  as  they  were  needed  and  however  much  good  resulted  from  their  dis- 
tribution, served,  but  in  part,  the  wants  of  one  class  of  our  citizens.  There 
was  another  and  more  important  class — more  important,  for  the  reason 
that  the  future  prosperity  of  the  section  mainly  depended  on  it.  Those 
constituting  this  class  could  not  be  ber.efitted  by  the  charity  referred  to: 
in  the  first  place  they  could  not  be  induced  to  accept  charity  so  bestowed, 
though  needed  never  so  badly  ;  their  wants  were  of  a  different  kind. 
They  needed  the  means  to  enable  them  to  resume  their  farming  operations, 
without  which  their  fertile  lands  were  valueless,  for  their  stock  had  been 
killed  or  taken  away,  their  farms  laid  waste,  their  implements  destroyed, 
their  labor  disorganized,  and  the  only  currency  within  their  reach  totally 
without  value  Under  these  circumstances  it  was  impossible  for  them  to 
operate  without  the  reception  of  outside  aid.  Our  banks  could  not  extend 
that  aid,  for  they,  too,  had  virtually  ceased  to  exist. 

"The  Baltimore  Agricultural  Aid  Society  seemed  to  appreciate  truly  the 
condition  of  our*pe<^ple,  and  came  to  their  assistance  in  a  manner  not  only 
calculated  to  extend,  perhaps,  the  greatest  amount  of  good  for  the  funds 
employed,  but  also  in  a  manner  so  delicately  devised  as  to  remove  from 
the  minds  of  all,  the  objections  they  would  have  had  to  receive  assistance 
less  delicately  tendered  The  horses,  agricultural  implements,  seed,  grain, 
&c.,  furnished  by  the  Society,  has  enabled  our  farmers  (many  of  whom 
otherwise  could  not  have  done  so)  to  get  out  small  crops  of  wheat  this  fall, 
and  make  more  extended  preparations  for  the  crops  of  next  spring,  the 
benefits  of  whioh  must  be  largely  felt  in  another  year. 

"  In  my  intercourse  with  the  people  of  this  vicinity,  I  have  learned  much 
of  their  feelings.  While  they  consider  themselves  indented  to  the  Balti- 
more Agricultural  Aid  Society  in  so  much,  measured  by  dollars  and  cents, 
they  feel  that  they  owe  a  debt  of  deep  gratitude  for  the  kindly  manner  in 
which  that  debt  was  brought  about.  Not  more,  sir,  do  the  people  appre- 
ciate the  kindness  of  the  Association  than  your  own  individual,  untiring 
exertions  in  their  behalf;  your  patience  under  the  most  trying  circum- 
stances seemed  never  to  fail  you — your  exertions  under  the  most  laborious 
performances  never  diminished." 


16 


THOMAS  N.  ASHBY,  ESQ.,  Warren  County,  Va. 

"  Before  closing  this  communication,  I  would  do  injustice  to  our  people 
did  I  omit  an  expression  of  appreciation  of  the  generous  motives  which 
prompted  the  members  of  your  Society  in  coming  to  their  assistance  in 
this,  their  time  of  need. 

'•While  the  sum  at  your  disposal  was  too  small  to  meet  the  wants  of  the 
many  who  have  been  reduced,  I  might  say,  to  destitution,  the  judicious 
manner  of  its  distribution  has  done  great  good.  May  the  seed  sown  fall 
upon  good  ground,  which  shall  spring  up  and  increase  an  hundred  fold, 
and  prove  to  all  as  '  bread  cast  upon  the  waters  to  be  found  after  many 
days.'  " 


R.  H.  LYELL,  BSQ  ,  Richmond  County,  Va. 

"  Our  people  are  under  lasting  obligations  to  you  and  the  Society  you 
represent  for  the  assistance  they  have  received ;  it  is  like  bread  cast  upon 
the  waters.  I  will  also  state,  that  I  feel  confident  that  five  per  cent,  will 
cover  all  loss  in  the  way  of  bad  debts." 


JAMES  H.  CLARK,  ESQ.,  Clarke  County,  Va. 

"  This  closes  my  agency  for  your  Association,  and  I  cannot  part  from 
you  without  an  expression  of  my  thanks  for  the  noble  manner  in  which 
your  Society  has  come  to  the  aid  of  our  impoverished  people.  Without 
the  aid  you  furnished  us.  not  more  than  one-third  of  the  wheat  put  out  in 
this  neighborhood  could  have  been  sown,  nor  other  operations  of  the  farm 
been  as  successfully  prosecuted.  I  trust  that  our  people  may  now  be  able 
to  make  bread,  at  least,  and,  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  years,  be  also 
able  to  pay  up  old  scores.  To  the  benevolent  people  of  Baltimore  they 
feel  that  they  owe  a  large  debt  of  gratitude,  and  it  will  certainly  be  paid 
manifold  in  the  future." 


JOHN  N.  GRESHAM,  ESQ.,  King  and  Queen  County,  Va. 

"The  wheat  crop  in  this  county  was  unusually  small,  and  the  quality 
poor  and  very  little  suitable  for  seed,  the  farmers  without  the  means  of 
purchasing,  were  most  anxious  to  seed  some,  but  how  or  where  to  procure 
it  they  knew  not,  when  the  Baltimore  Agricultural  Aid  Society  came  to 
their  relief,  thus  enabling  many  to  soed  a  crop  that  otherwise  could  not. 

"I  trust  that  this  laudable  effort  of  a  few  noble  men  of  Baltimore  will 
long  be  remembered  by  this  county  and  be  productive  of  much  good  to  all 
parties.  A  friend  in  need  is  a  friend  indeed,  and  the  Society  has  proved 
this  friend," 


DR.  THOMAS  M.  MILLER,  Newtown,  Frederic  Go.,Va. 

14  In  closing  up  my  accounts  with  you  as  agent  of  the  Agricultural  Aid 
Society,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  express,  in  behalf  of  those  who  were  re- 
cipients of  your  aid  their  gratitude,  and  also  to  indicate  the  amount  of 
good  you  have  done  for  our  suffering  and  dejected  people. 

"When  I  made  myself  known  as  agent  of  the  Society,  and  explained  the 
object  of  it,  the  people  seemed  to  arouse  from  their  lethargy  and  indiffer- 
ence, and  assume  a  new  life.  But  few  had  plows,  and  those  who  had,  had 
no  wheat.  When  I  told  them  they  would  be  supplied  with  wheat  and 
implements,  their  souls  were  filled  with  hope,  and  happiness  soon  took  the 
place  of  almost  despair.  It  is  useless  for  me  to  go  into  details  or  minute 
descriptions.  I  will  only  mention  the  article  of  wheat  I  purchased  with 
the  money  you  sent  me — enough  to  sow  four  hundred  acres,  this  land  will 
produce,  if  only  a  moderate  season,  six  thousand  bushels  of  wheat,  if  a 
good  season,  eight  to  ten  thousand. 

"In  conclusion,  let  me  assure  you  the  name  of  the  Agricultural  Aid 
Society,  will  ever  be  remembered  by  the  people  of  the  Valley.  It  will  be 
transmitted  from  one  generation  to  another,  as  long  as  our  Government 
has  an  existence." 


JOHN  L.  STANSBURY,  ESQ.,  Spottsylvania  County,  Va. 
44  This  closes  my  distribution  as  agent  for  the  Agricultural  Aid  Society, 
which  I  know  must  result  in  incalculable  benefit  to  the  people  of  this  part 
of  Virginia,  for  had  it  not  been  for  your  Society,  there  could  not  have 
been  any  wheat  sown  in  this  part  of  the  county,  and  in  my  opinion,  there 
could  not  have  been  anything  devised  by  the  benevolent  people  of  Balti- 
more, that  could  have  produced  the  same  beneficial  results,  not  only  to  the 
agricultural  interest,  but  the  entire  community." 


WM.  T.  SAMUEL,  ESQ.,  King  William  County,  Va. 
"  I  tender  you  my  grateful  acknowledgments  on  behalf  of  the  benefi- 
ciaries of  this  noble  deed  of  generosity  and  kindness,  which  will  long  be 
remembered  by  the  people  of  King  William." 


DAVID  J.  MILLER,  ESQ.,  Middletown,  Frederic  County,  Va. 

"The  citizens  of  the  Valley,  are  under  many  obligations  to  your  very 
benevolent  Society,  but  for  its  assistance,  many  acres  of  land  could  not 
have  been  cultivated ;  as  it  is,  we  have  a  fair  crop  of  wheat  sown,  and 
horses  and  plows  to  go  on  for  a  corn  crop,  and  I  hope  its  members  will 
meet  their  full  reward  for  their  charitable  undertaking.  The  old  Valley 
will  not  forget  the  Baltimore  Agricultural  Aid  Society,  in  this  generation  ; 
you  have  nobly  done  your  part,  I  hope  we  may  be  able  to  do  ours  in  re- 
turn." 


18 


WM.  H.  HANSBROUGH,  ESQ.,  Stafford  County,  Va. 

"The  people  of  our  County  seem  very  grateful  for  the  favors  done  them, 
and  I  hope  Baltimore  will  long  be  dear  to  their  hearts." 


H.  B.  TOMLIN,  ESQ.,  King  William  County,  Va. 

11  Permit  me  to  unite,  with  my  neighbors,  in  expressions  of  my  thanks 
to  your  Society,  and  especially  to  yourself,  for  the  very  great  accommoda- 
tion and  favor  received  at  your  hands." 


HON.  WM.  BOULWARE,  King  William  County,  Va. 

"  The  Virginia  farmers  are  under  such  obligations  to  your  Society,  as 
can  never  be  forgotten.  The  bonds  of  amity,  before  strong  between  your 
City  and  State  and  ours,  are  now  still  stronger,  from  the  many  manifes- 
tations of  sympathy  and  kindness  in  our  recent  misfortunes." 


R.  C.  DABNEY,  ESQ.,  Spottsylvania  County,  Va. 

"  Allow  me  to  express,  on  behalf  of  those  your  Society  have  so  gener- 
ously aided,  their  grateful  acknowledgments.  Many  of  the  parties,  from 
causes  that  will  readily  suggest  themselves  to  you,  would  have  been  unable 
to  procure  either  seed  or  implements.  Much  relief  has  been  afforded  to 
the  people  of  this  county,  who  have  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity 
thus  afforded." 


ALFRED  PALMER,  ESQ.,  Middlesex  County,  Va. 

"With  regard  to  the  benefits  derived  from  your  Society,  it  gives  me 
pleasure  to  state  that  I  am  sure,  from  the  expressions  of  gratitude  from 
the  beneficiaries  of  your  Society,  and  from  others  in  this  community,  that 
it  has  been  of  great  utility  and  lasting  benefit  to  the  Southern  farmers,  as 
far  as  it  has  gone,  inasmuch  as  it  was  proffered  to  them  so  opportunely." 


JOHN  E.  SEQAR,  ESQ.,  Middlesex  County,  Va. 

"  I  think  your  agency  has  been  productive  of  much  good  among  the 
citizens  I  furnished  with  wheat  and  agricultural  implements,  as  far  as  it 
went,  as  the  persons  whom  you  furnished  in  my  field  of  operations  had  no 
money,  and  no  means  of  getting  any  to  get  them.  And  I  would  also  say 
that  I  think  the  whole  amount  will  be  paid." 


19 


COL.  TAOMAS  BROWN,  Westmoreland  County,  Va. 

"  1  feel  no  hesitancy  in  stating  that  I  consider  that  our  section  has  been 
greatly  benefitted  by  the  aid  it  has  received  at  the  hands  of  your  « Aid 
Society.'  Many  have  been  able  to  commence  farming  anew  by  the  assis- 
tance afforded  them  by  your  Society,  and  are  now  diligently  pursuing 
their  work  with  a  fair  prospect  of  success,  and  the  country,  in  many  places, 
is  wearing  a  cheerful  aspect  from  the  seed  you  have  furnished,  which  other- 
wise would  have  been  dreary  and  waste." 


GEORGE  M.  CARTER,  ESQ.  ,  Westmoreland  County,  Va. 

"  I  tender  my  sincere  thanks  to  your  Society  for  their  timely  aid  to  my 
county,  and  to  you  for  your  indefatigable  exertions  in  carrying  out  their 
design,  which  was  grand  in  conception  and  generous  in  execution.  Like 
all  good  institutions,  its  benefits  will  be  felt  by  some  who  are  incapable  of 
appreciating  them,  but  that  will  not  detract  from  its  value.  The  enclosed 
letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Locke,  may  be  accepted  as  an  illustration  of  the 
condition  of  most  of  our  people,  and  the  importance  of  the  assistance  ren- 
dered them." 


RECTORY,  Nov.  27th,  1865. 
George  M.  Carter,  Esq. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

I  send  you  my  note  for  wheat  furnished  me  by  the 
Agricultural  Aid  Society. 

But  for  the  aid  of  that  Society,  I  would  have  been  without  farming  im- 
plements, and  consequently  could  not  have  seeded  any  wheat  this  year. 
I  am  fully  persuaded  that  this  Society  has  done  great  good  to  our  com- 
munity, for  very  many  around  us  were  in  a  similar  situation  with  myself. 
I  feel  that  I  am  under  great  obligations  to  it. 

Yours,  truly? 

THOMAS  E.  LOCKE. 


GEORGE  A.  HUPP,  ESQ.,  Shenandoah  County,  Va. 

"  The  citizens  in  this  part  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  who  have  been  the 
recipients  of  the  means  furnished  them  by  the  Society  in  procuring  seed 
wheat  and  implements,  are  under  lasting  obligations  for  so  much  benevo- 
lence manifested  in  their  behalf,  but  for  this  timely  aid  a  very  small  pro- 
portion of  the  land  could  have  been  seeded.  I  trust  that  this  favor  of  the 
citizens  of  Baltimore  will  long  be  remembered  by  those  who  have  shared 
in  its  benefits." 


Mrs.  Isabella  Brown $3,000 

George  S.  Brown 2,000 

Wm.  G.  Harrison 1,500 

Charles  M.  .Dougherty 1,000 

Charles  J.  Baker 1,000 

Numsen,  Carroll  &  Co 1,000 

Kobert  Garrett  &  Sons 1,000 

Beef  Butchers'  Hide  and  Tal- 
low Asso'n,  per  L.  Turner, 

President 1,000 

William  Devries 600 

Armstrong,  Cator  &  Co 500 

Daniel  Miller  &  Co 500 

James  Armstrong  &  Co 500 

Wm.  H.  Baldwin 500 

James  Hooper  &  Sons 500 

J.  J.  Bankard 500 

Whiteley  Bros.  &  Co 500 

Smith  &  Curlett 500 

Hamilton  Easter  &  Co 500 

T.  J.  Magruder  &  Co 500 

Leonard  Passano 500 

Hugh  Gelston 500 

J.  &  H.  Warden 500 

B.  M.  Rhodes  &  Co 500 

Jacob  Brandt,  Jr 500 

Samuel  Bevan  &  Co 500 

John  S.  Williams  &  Bro 500 

Charles  A.  Gambrill  &  Co 500 

J.  B.  Brinkley 500 

John  W.  Bruff  &  Co.. 500 

Hodges  Bros.  &  Co 500 

Wm.  T.  Walters  &  Co 500 

Charles  W.  Lord 600 

Thomas  McCormick  &  Bro...      500 


Wisenfeld  &  Co $500 

Drost&  Sutro 500 

J.  Smith  &  Son 500 

Wm.  A.  Boyd  &  Co 500 

Austin  Dall  &  Co 500 

John  S.  Barry  &  Co 500 

Wethered  Bros 500 

Wm.  H.  Graham 500 

Howard,  Cole  &  Co 500 

Eobert  Moore  &  Co 500 

Purvis  &  Co 500 

Richard  Cromwell 500 

H.  F.  Albert?  &  Co 500 

James  Corner  &  Sons. 500 

Stein  Brothers 500 

Charles  H.  Ross  &  Co 500 

Spence  &  Reid 500 

Wm.  D.  Shurtz  &  Co 600 

Barnum's  Hotel 600 

F.  W.  Brune  &  Sons 500 

Hopkins,  Hull  &  Atkinson 500 

Hiram  Woods,  Jr 500 

Kirkland,  Chase  &  Co 500 

Joseph  Carson  &  Co 500 

Mrs.  John  Glenn 500 

G.  W.  Gail  &  Ax 600 

Eutaw  House 600 

Henry  Riem an  &  Sons 500 

Wm.  Knabe  &  Co 500 

William  Chrichton 340 

Lewis  Myers  &  Co 300 

Hurst  &  Co 300 

Wm.  Chesnut  &  Co 300 

Bayne  &  Co 300 

G.  H.  Reese  &  Bro....              .  300 


21 


Andrew  Gregg  &  Co $300 

Maynard,  Ely  &  Eose 300 

E.  Whitman  &  Sons 300 

F.  W.  Bennett 250 

Newcomer  &  Co 250 

Stonebraker  &  Co 250 

J.  G.  Harvey  &  Co 250 

Geo.  W.  Grafflin 250 

Orendorff  &  Beam 250 

B.  M.  Makepeace  &  Co 250 

Smith  &  Nicodemus 250 

Meixsell  &  Grafton 250 

Renehan  &  Kirwans 250 

O.  D.  Slingluff  &  Sons 250 

Augustus  J.  Albert 250 

Poole  &  Hunt   250 

John  Sullivan  &  Co 250 

Sam'l  S.  Levering ...  250 

John  L.  Weeks 250 

A.  S.  Abell 250 

Chancy,  Kandall  &  Co 250 

Spiller&  Alcocke 250 

H.  L.  Whitridge 250 

Oberndorff  &  Lauer 200 

F.  B.  Loney  &  Co 200 

Wm.  A.  Dean 200 

Lambert  Gittings  &  Co 200 

"Wm.  H.  Perot  &  Co 200 

Samuel  Kirk  &  Son 200 

Cortlan  &  Co 200 

Edward  Reese „ 200 

Roche  &  Co 200 

Fisher  Bros.  &  Co 200 

"Wm.   H.   Clabaugh,   Fountain 

Hotel 200 

Henry  James 150 

Cooper  &  Slicer 150 

Wm.  J.  Rieman  &  Co 150 

Wm.  Davidson  &  Co 150 

George  M.  Gill 150 


George  W.  Webb  &  Co $100 

Henry  Bogue 100 

Cumberland  Dugan  &  Co 100 

J.  A.  Dushane.... 100 

Joseph  Rogers,  Jr 100 

P.  Ticrnan  &  Son  100 

A.  G.  Meyer  &  Co 100 

Miss  Henrietta  Randall 100 

Hugh  Bolton  &  Co 100 

John  Hurst _  100 

Edward  Jenkins  &  Sons 100 

Neale,  Harris  &  Co 100 

Edward  Mitchell  &  Sons 100 

A.  Seemuller  &  Sons 100 

John  M.  Buck 100 

John  C.  Mason  &  Co 100 

J.  M.  Girvin „  100 

James  E.  Tyson 100 

Schwerdtmann  &  Co 100 

Israel  M.  Parr 100 

F.  F.  Pope 100 

H.  R.  Tucker  &  Co 100 

Capt.  C.  A.  Berry 100 

Joseph  C.  Ycates  &  Co 100 

Samuel  Mactier 100 

J.  S.  &  J.  Price 100 

Thomas  Booz  &  Bro 100 

Coleman  &  Bailey 100 

Walter  Crook,  Jr „  100 

E.  Bonney JOO 

Eli  Ulery 100 

W.  J.  Kirk  100 

H.  R,  Williar  &  Bro 100 

G.  M.  Bastable 100 

Wm.  Wilhelm 100 

Freeland  &  Hall 100 

Thomas  J.  Reese  &  Co 100 

Hopkins  &  Janncy 100 

Peter  Mowell 100 

Dr.  T.  F.  Cherry 100 


22 


L.  F.   Dietz  &  Co $100 

Mayer  &  Brother 100 

John  D.  Hammond 100 

Sam'l  Frankenstein 100 

Edward  Holten. 100 

Jacob  Ellinger 100 

Joseph  H.  McGee 100 

Henry  R.  Wilson 100 

W.  King&  Bro 100 

N.  A.  Pfeiffer 100 

R.  J.  Baker 100 

Geo.  G.  Presbury,  Jr 100 

Carroll,  Adams  &  Neir 100 

W.  L.  Blocker 100 

Nathan  Lehman.  ... 100 

George  Appold 100 

R.  Mason  &  Sons 100 

Middleton  &  Denny 100 

Burns  &  Sloan 100 

Thistle  Manufacturing  Co 100 

J.  A.  Edmondson 100 

Mrs.  Tamsey  A.  Reeso 100 

Woodside,  Griffith  &  Hoblit- 

zell 100 

"Win.  H.  Stran  &  Co 100 

Win.  Henry  Johnson ..  100 

William  Mclntosh 100 

Henry  T.  Roberts 100 

Gazette  Office 100 

Thomas  S.  Godey 100 

William  Walsh  &  Sons 100 

E.  C.  Thomas  &  Sons 100 

Cugle,  Sickle  &  Co 100 

James  Bullock 100 

Charles  F.  Pitt 50 

John  R.  Laws... 50 

A,  A.  Perry 50 

A.  L.  Webb 50 

S.  P.  Thomson  &  Co 50 

M.  A.  Mitchell...  50 


R.  B.  Porter  &  Sons $50 

Randolph,  Golibart  &  Co 50 

Jones  &  Ashcraft 50 

Henry  Boss 50 

James  G.  Ramsey 50 

William  Brown  &  Son 50 

C.  Blake 50 

J.  P.  Hartman  &  Sons 50 

R.  H.  Millikin 50 

Heim,  Nicodemus  &  Co 50 

Charles  Simon 50 

John  R.  Diggs 50 

Boswell  &  Dorsett 50 

Captain  Samuel  M.  Travers 50 

W.. Shirley  &  Son 50 

Cofforth  &  Miller 50 

Dry  Goods  Clerk 50 

Gephart  &  Barber 50 

Joseph  Thomas  &  Son 50 

Peter  Zell  &  Son 50 

William  Wilson,  Jr 50 

Ferdinand  Meyer 50 

J.  Whiting  &  Co 50 

Morehead  &   Nitze 50 

William  B.  Larmour 50 

Thomas  Bond 50 

William  Bond 50 

W.  J.   Delcher 50 

Poultney  &  Moale 50 

Barry  &  Hoogewerft' 50 

B.  A.  Vickers 50 

Adams  &  Davidson 50 

James  E.  Buchanan 50 

A.  C.  Ahrens 50 

William  A.  Wentz 50 

R.  &  W.  H.  Cathcart 25 

Charles  J.  Morris 26 

John  Whittamoro 25 

H.  Straus  &  Bro 25 

LeBrou  &  Bro ..  25 


23 


Thomas  P.  Stran $25 

George  W.  Holden 25 

James  C.  Wheedin,  Jr 25 

F.  W.  Wilson 25 

A  Friend 25 

Bevan  &  Son 25 

B.  T.  Hynson  &  Son 25 

G.  W.  Burns 25 

John  Murray,  of  Peter 25 

Mrs.  Emma  L.  Blocher 25 

Armstrong  &  Hopkins 25 

J.  A.  Richardson  &  Co 25 

Win.  Applegarth 25 

Poe  &  Scrimger 25 


Hyland  &  Wood $25 

John  Welsh 20 

Captain  Alexander  Jones 20 

Captain  James  Etchberger 20 

Arthur  Emory  &  Co 20 

J.  H.  Durand 20 

Uri  Kiburn 20 

D.  G.  Murray 20 

N.  E.  Berry 20 

George  Evans 20 

Wm.  H.  Price 20 

H.W.Webb 20 

James  Lucas 20 

Small  amounts  under  $20 90 


Total  amount $59,370 


A     000  844  531     4 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


Series  9482 


NEWARK,  NJ.  •  WILLIAMSfOf 
10$  ANGEUS,  CALIF. 
BMNTFOM,  ONT. 


